1、云南大学旅游文化学院本科生学年论文题 目：On Characteristics and Application of English Euphemism专业班级： 07 级英语专业（3）班 作者姓名： xxxxx 作者学号： 20071200420 指导教师： xxxxx、 撰文时间： 2010 年 8 月 20 日 On Characteristics and Application of English EuphemismContentsAbstract摘要Introduction11 The Origin and Definition of Euphemism22 The Charact
2、eristics of English Euphemism32.1 Universality32.2 Having Division of the Sentimental Color 32.3 Having Life 42.4 Sociality42.5 Re-symbolism42.6 Arbitrariness52.7 Accuracy52.8 Conventionality53 The Application of English Euphemism in Daily Life63.1 In Occupation Application63.1.1 To Raise the Profes
3、sional Status 63.1.2 To Beautify Coarse, Grating Occupation73.1.3 To Use the Analogy73.2 In Education Application83.3 In Politics and War Application83.4 In Disease Application93.5 In Age and Weight Application103.6 In Sex Application113.7 In Birth Application11Conclusion13 Bibliography14On Characte
4、ristics and Application of English EuphemismiAbstract：In every society there are certain things that are supposed to be unspeakable. A fair number of words make someone embarrassed、unhappy、dislike or fear when used in communication. If we express the meaning in the direct way, we will make such impr
5、ession which is vulgar, frivolous, and impolite. In order to avoid the embarrassment or ease the sting of harsh words, man has created euphemisms. In western cultures, many of the fields that people tend to euphemize widely are not different from anywhere in the world. This paper introduces the orig
6、in and definition of euphemism, the characteristics of English euphemism and the application of English euphemism and the causes of using euphemism, with much weight attached to the latter three.Key Words：English euphemism taboo context characteristics application On Characteristics and Application
7、of English Euphemismii摘要：在任何一个社会中，总有些不能直截了当说出来的话。在人们交际的过程中，有些词语使人尴尬，惹人不快，招人讨厌或令人害怕，如果直接表达出来会给人一种粗俗、轻浮、无礼的印象。因此在一些场合为了避免难堪，或减轻对人的感情伤害，人们创造了委婉语。在西方社会文化生活中，在很多领域，人们广泛地使用着委婉语，这和世界上多数地区是一样的。本文追溯了委婉语的历史渊源，界定了委婉语的概念，随后着重介绍了英语委婉语的特点及在各个领域的应用，并探讨了人们使用这些委婉语的原因。关键词: 英语委婉语 禁忌语 语境 特点 应用On Characteristics and App
8、lication of English Euphemism1IntroductionEuphemism refers to mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones. Invention here being the mother of necessity, the need for euphemism arose. In every society, there are certain things that are not supposed to be s
9、peakable or mentioned directly. A fair number of words are labeled frivolous, vulgar, or at least inconsiderate. But in communication, for better maintaining social relationship and exchanging ideas, people have to resort to a kind of language, which can make distasteful ideas seem acceptable or eve
10、n desirable. This type of language is defined as “euphemism” in linguistics and it comes in a variety of forms and is used for a variety of reasons. Unlike other figurative language devices, for example, the metaphor of poetry or prose, euphemism aims to surprise and entertain (Lee, 1966:125), striv
11、es to avoid offense by means of circumlocution. As a communicative skill-“feeling it like it is not (Time, 1978:164) euphemism abounds in our life.” Euphemisms are powerful linguistic devices which “are embedded so deeply in our language that few of us, even those on being plainspoken, ever get thro
12、ugh a day without using them (Rawson, 1981:245).” Much research has been done on euphemism because of its prominence in language. A lot of great works came into being during the study of euphemism, which lay a foundation for further research. In 1936, in his book The American Linguistic Meneken full
13、y discussed why hundreds of euphemisms had been born and become popular on the basis of American history and social altered background. His book is a valuable legacy for euphemism study. In 1981, British linguist Hugh Rawson complied A Dictionary of Euphemism and other Double Talks which embodied th
14、e achievements of research on euphemism over the decades by many British and American linguists.The euphemism is one phenomenon of language in human society, which is an important method of harmonizing the relationship between people. It is a figure of speech. English euphemism also becomes an inali
15、enable part in topic of the Trans-Culture human relations.On Characteristics and Application of English Euphemism21 The Origin and Definition of EuphemismEnglish euphemism has a long history, and many euphemism words come from The Bible .And in The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer and plays and p
16、oems of Shakespeare, varities of euphemism words were applied. In Britain, the usage of euphemism could be traced back to 11th century. In that time, Genteel Vocabulary and Obscene Vocabulary were distinguished obviously. The former is just the precursor of euphemism. In the early 1580s, English wri
17、ter George Blunt first used word “euphemism”. It originates in Greek prefix “eu” which means “good, sounding well” and stem “pheme” which means “speech or saying”. People applied it in order to avoid mentioning things considered to be taboo and specific unpleasantnesses which relate to such things a
18、s accidents, illness, death, sex, excretion, the phenomenon of physiology and natural conduct and so on directly and talk about them in an euphemismistic way. Since 1970s linguistic euphemism has become popular again. And euphemism, as a language phenomenon now, is applied very frequently and widely
19、. American scholar Hugh Rawson once said: “The euphemism submerges our language that none of us can get down one day without using it, even the same for who brags themselves the straight forward person.” Hence, giving it an accurate definition is quite necessary:First, George Blunt defined it as: a
20、good or favorable interpretation of a bad word.Second, in the Radom House College Dictionary it means: the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt.Third, its meaning is: used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avo
21、id possible loss of face: either ones own face or through giving offense, that of the audience or of some third party. (Allen, K. and Burridge, K., 1991:18)Fourth, its definition is: that figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favorable implicati
22、on or less unpleasant association, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended. (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989)Fifth, the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought substituted. (Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dicti
23、onary of the English On Characteristics and Application of English Euphemism3language, 1996)Sixth, euphemizing is generally defined as substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words. (Enright D.J., 1985)Seventh, words
24、used in place of one avoided as e.g. offensive, indecent, or alarming. (Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, Shanghai Foreign Languages Publishing House, 2000)These definitions above, tell us different meanings, however, several similar features can be summarized as the following:1. Euphemism i
25、s a substitution of unpleasant or taboo words.2. Euphemism should be considered to be a kind of rhetoric skill.3. Euphemism in the language should have the functions of softening, alleviating, concealing or showing politeness.2 The Characteristics of English Euphemism2.1 UniversalityEuphemizing gene
26、rally exists in almost every nation all over the world, no matter how civilized it is. And in every natural languages both large family of languages and languages of minorities, using euphemism is a common phenomenon. Because almost all cultures seem to have certain notions or things that people try
27、 to avoid mentioning directly. That is, nearly every culture has its own taboos. Though using euphemism doesnt express directly, everyone familiar with English can understand what actually meant immediately. And plenty of usages of euphemizing of taboos are accepted commonly by the people.2.2 Having
28、 Division of the Sentimental ColorMentioning euphemism approximately, some are lofty, some are affectionate and some are the vulgar bodies. For example, in the expression of death “to die” in meaning a series of euphemism words, a part has the lofty color; Like “to expire” “to pay the debt of nature
29、” “to sleep” and so on, but has another part for the affectionate of spoken language, slang or vulgar body, like “ to kick the buck “, “to On Characteristics and Application of English Euphemism4go west”(张廷茂 1996:451).To different people, the using of euphemism words is different. They have obvious
30、division of the sentimental color.2.3 Having Life Some euphemisms having once completed its social intercourse mission would not be inexistence, but some then are given new life in the long-term usage, (its meanings) are accepted broadly and inherit to take over down, becoming fixed phrase language
31、or direct expression synonym, and exist in vocabulary. Such as euphemism of the expression of liquor teases: “mediline”, “high cap”, “eye-opener” and so on; And also have some substitutions of trousers , “inexpressible”, “unwhisperable”, “unspeakable”, “one-must-not-men”, “indiscribable” and so on.2
32、.4 SocialityThe language is a kind of social phenomenon; the different society could not exert a same expression method. Even if in identical societys different social classes, social stratums, even different professions in the identical social class, the social stratum as well as the quantity of pe
33、ople under different culture backgrounds using the euphemism should be also different. For example the word “dead”, in each society, in each culture has the different expression methods. According to the research statistics provided by the related scholars, in Chinese the expression of “dead” reache
34、s more than 300, according to the incomplete statistics, in English it probably has more than 230. If taking into consideration of those tactful parlances of temporariness, its amount would be far over this number. Like person believing in Marxist will speak “to see a Marx”; Person believing in Chri
35、stianity will say “be with God”. In brief, the euphemizing would be inevitably applied if one wants to perform in the society.2.5 Re-symbolismFrom the definition of euphemism, we can know clearly that euphemism is using one expression to replace another. “That is to say, euphemism is a re-symbolizin
36、g of things, ideas, or events already symbolized with precision in mind. Therefore On Characteristics and Application of English Euphemism5people cant randomly utilize an expression to euphemize the taboos. The re-symbolizing should provide clues to catch the intended meaning of the taboos and shoul
37、d sound indirect or pleasanter.” Hence, euphemism is a kind of substitution in fact; it is a manifestation of re-symbolism.2.6 ArbitrarinessEuphemisms come from daily life, and most of them come from ordinary people. Thus, arbitrariness is one of the most important characteristics of modern euphemis
38、m. Once a man was interviewed on a farm on the west of Canada, he called bull “gentleman cow”. He used euphemism very optionally. And some expressions of going to the toilet are also applied freely. Such as “pass water”, “go to school”, and “wash ones hand” and so on.2.7 AccuracyStemming from human
39、communications need, people do not state the matter directly, but use the relatively tactful expression the usage of euphemism, thus, an identical matter has the different expression methods. Using of different expression methods should be in accordance to the different linguistic environments, the
40、goals and the requests, each expression in the specific linguistic environment is most accurate. For example, there are many words which mean “to die”, such as “go depart”, “decease”, “pass away”, “breathe ones debt to nature”, “be in heaven”, “and be with God” and so on. In the daily life, people are often not willing to say some kind of misfortune, particularly “the death“, so usually change to express with euphemism. 2.8 ConventionalityAfter peoples l
